Last night I was treated to lovely scenes of celebration and happy socializing. A co-teacher got married. I won't proceed to describe how stunning she is or how touching the speeches, as I guess beautiful weddings are always characterized by such details. While seated at reception I watched the morning ceremony on screen for evening guests:
Chairs were draped with yellow bows while pink dominated the backdrop. They are not motifs. They are significantly associated with Thai patriotism. In 2006 we all began wearing yellow shirts every Monday. Pink was the color His Majesty wore when he came out of the hospital months back. The royal tailor was quoted in a magazine I read earlier, "pink, i.e. 'in the pink of health.'" There isn't much fuss about color combinations here. Whatever color the king wears, the rest of the kingdom follows. We just watch what the monarchy wears, shop with that in mind and we never go wrong with what we wear. Besides, pink and yellow are the least of my worries. I was busy admiring the tall bride:
Buying a wedding gift could be frustrating. I received the invitation three weeks ago, but all I did was wonder what to give her until yesterday when time ran out and I crammed. I dragged my son to the mall and went looking for a gift. Three hours of walking and I still didn't find anything appropriate. My son was getting fidgety. He shrugged everytime I asked his opinion about an item; obviously bored with my indecisiveness. "Mommy, I want to go home," is a statement that means, "I'm bored" and I finally heard it. In a moment of intense frustration I thought of wrapping some of my china. But I don't want objects of beauty given away out of frustration. Panicking, I finally decided on this:
Cash, yes. It's convenient. No tired feet helplessly roaming around the mall. Frustration gone. Problem solved. I took the cue from my own wedding a hundred years ago in which I didn't see a single ribboned box. So I handed this envelope to the gift attendants, and took shots of some of the flowers nearby:
Bouquet - throwing was completely altered. Most of the ladies who rushed to the front are very much married. Some even had their kids cheering behind them. I almost fell off my chair laughing. They asked me if I wanted to try catching. Nah... I sat and did what I could with half of the nine-course meal that was left untouched..
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